Apparently there is something to do with LED lights or something that other teams/players have complained about in Houston. Orioles set a record for strikeouts in a series or something like that there recently.

I wouldn't worry too much about it yet.

The radio broadcast mentioned the LED lights were whiter/brighter, which caused some haze effects; coupled with the lack of a true batters' eye out in center, it's clearly a contributing factor to visiting teams. No big deal though.

The radio broadcast mentioned the LED lights were whiter/brighter, which caused some haze effects; coupled with the lack of a true batters' eye out in center, it's clearly a contributing factor to visiting teams. No big deal though.

On the TV broadcast, they also noted how hard it can become to get a grip in the batter's box from the midpoint of the game, which would increase the levels of discomfort. That could also contribute to some of the issues.

Basically, there are a number of issues with an otherwise beautiful stadium from a baseball POV.

Logged

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

For a little statistical context it looks like the Astros pitchers in Houston tend to be about a full K/9 better at home than they are on the road. I don't know how that compares around the league. The Jays are only .2 higher this year at home and only .1 higher last year.

I'm happy Sanchez is going to stay in the rotation, but I don't know about a 6-man rotation. I guess it helps save Sanchez's arm and maybe Estrada's back, and I suppose if Liriano doesn't suck...

Yeah, I think the issue you usually have with a 6 man rotation is that not only are you taking innings from your five best starters and giving a bunch of innings to whoever is the 6th best starter on your staff but you're disrupting everyone's rest schedule for the purpose of doing so(with the caveat that the "purpose" here is clearly to compromise between leaving Sanchez in the rotation vs. sending him to the pen)

Regardless of how you feel about the sort of precautionary measures that are driving the move to put Sanchez in the bullpen, that seems like an awful lot of disruption in its service.

Happy to hear that management has at least budged on the Sanchez workload issue. It sounds like the 6 man rotation idea buys Sanchez another month in the rotation. This is great news for the Jays with the season he is having. Give him another month and then re-evaluate at the start of September on how Sanchez feels physically. Rosters will then expand and more options will be available should they need them. Seems like a smart, sensible approach to the situation.

It's not ideal, that's for sure, but the Jays also have 6 off days the rest of the way, so they'll have opportunities to skip the 6th guy basically every 2nd time through the rotation.

Sure but in that case how many innings are you really saving for Sanchez in that case? I probably lean towards just leaving the rotation as is(although I'm not gung-ho on it either way) but I feel like either you have a good medical reason for effectively shutting him down or you don't.